3D Magic Effects

What it does

The pack registers twelve named effects with the 3D particle system. Spawn one with game.particles3d.effect(name, opts) at a character's feet, or have it follow the character; effects that belong higher, such as the shield bubble, lift themselves so the floor does not cut them in half.

Each effect layers several emitters: a pool of light or a ring on the floor, a body of soft additive light, sparks or stars, and sometimes dark smoke. Colours cool and particles fade over their life, and forces hold the motion in shape: an attract keeps an aura hugging its wearer, a vortex turns a portal, drag and gravity settle the glitter. No effect holds more than about 190 live particles, so an aura on the hero, a curse on the enemy and a portal behind them run happily together.

Features

• States a character wears — aura, a column of blue light; shield, a glassy bubble; curse, purple wisps sinking from above the head; heal, motes rising from a pool of green light.
• The big moments — teleport, a white column that flashes up and collapses; buff, a gold ring and streaks up the body; levelUp, a column of gold light that bursts into stars.
• Marks on the floor — portal, a violet ring in a vortex; rune, bright points turning over a circle; and summonCircle, two rings with rune strokes wheeling between them.
• Light and pickups — holyLight, a golden shaft pouring onto a spot, and sparkle, a twinkling cloud of star motes at chest height.
• Timing — timeScale slows or speeds any effect, for a slow-motion teleport.

Good for

• Action RPGs — buffs, debuffs, heals and level-ups on characters seen from a follow camera.
• Fantasy adventures — portals, runes and summoning circles at enchanted places.
• 3D platformers — a sparkle on every pickup and enchanted object.
• Shrines and holy places — a shaft of light on an altar.

Make it yours

Every effect takes a position or an object to follow, scale, timeScale and a layer. The set is tuned for a character about 1.8 units tall, and scale fits it to anything else: a shield at scale: 1.3 for a bigger bearer. Each effect is a plain Vfx3dDef, so a new spell is a copy: take aura from game.particles3d.defs, give its emitters a red colour ramp and register it with registerVfx3d as a rage aura, or double the rates in a copy of summonCircle for a busier ritual.

A quick look

A portal on the ground, an aura worn by a character and a level-up on demand:

const gate = game.particles3d.effect('portal', { x: 4, y: 0, z: -2, scale: 1.5 });
const aura = game.particles3d.effect('aura', { follow: hero });
const onLevelUp = () => game.particles3d.effect('levelUp', { x: hero.x, y: hero.y, z: hero.z });
gate.stop();   // stop emitting; what is alive finishes

Works with

• particles-3d and particle-textures — required: the runtime and the particle frames; core-3d includes both.
• lighting-3d — a point light for the light a spell throws on the scene.
• trails-3d with vfx3d-trails — a ribbon behind a moving wand or blade.
• vfx-magic — the same set in 2D.

Good to know

• The glow casts no light and no shadows: pair an effect with a point light for light on the scene.
• Forces stay in world axes and particles stay in the world, so a wearer moving fast leaves part of an aura behind.
• The one-shots end within three seconds; the loops run until they are stopped or killed.